Check Out Nike's Cool Augmented Reality Running Campaign

It involves 50 runners who wore "Flash" running jackets (which are entirely reflective) hooked up to GPS systems, while they ran around Vienna, Austria, for 90 minutes as participants tracked them with a mobile app (via Simply Zesty):

"To catch the flash, participants would have to take a photo of the runner, which would reveal the special number as the flash hit the jacket. Because the jackets were made of light reflective material, it meant that the flash would reveal the number and whoever catches the most flashes wins the game."

It's one of several AR campaigns Nike's done recently. Last year Nike India launched an app where consumers could point their phones at the print ads with the AR code "and watch animated content featuring the people and the products in that particular ad along with other information about the Nike Sportswear collection," according to the Hindu Business Line.

Lots of brands are getting on board with AR and mobile campaigns, including a number of retailers, like Calvin Klein, Ray-Ban and Tesco. It's a smart, innovative way for brands to advertise, because it engages consumers, and for that reason, the ad is much more memorable. It's also not as intrusive as a TV ad, for example, because consumers are making a choice to view — and engage in — the ad. We'll definitely see more of it in 2012.